Latest news with #Jet2holidays
Times
10 hours ago
- Times
10 of the best tour operators
Whether turning up at a port to see the ferry melting over the horizon or thinking you're heading to an authentic Mexican cantina only to find a generic cocktail bar, a trip to a new place inevitably contains moments of disappointment. However, booking with the right operator can ensure you're spending your holiday budget, and more importantly time, in the way that feels most meaningful to you. More than doing the admin, offering on-the-ground knowledge and crafting thoughtful itineraries, they also offer a steady hand to hold when things go awry. From high-end adventures to budget-conscious journeys, these are the companies that go the extra mile so you can travel with confidence. This article contains affiliate links, which may earn us revenue Jet2holidays is now the UK's largest tour operator and has won awards for its excellent service at reasonable prices. It refunded customers quickly during the pandemic, has promised not to apply surcharges this year and, unlike many fly-and-flop merchants, includes hold luggage in its headline prices. It has beach holidays in two to five-star hotels in 65 destinations across the Mediterranean, Canary Islands and other corners of Europe, from ten UK airports, as well as city breaks. Try this: Seven nights' all inclusive at the four-star Landmar Costa Los Gigantes in Tenerife on June 19 starts at £994pp, based on two adults sharing, including baggage allowance, flights and transfers. • Read our full guide to the world's best adventure holidays Inntravel was pioneering slow travel long before it became mainstream. It specialises in self-guided walking, cycling and cross-country snowshoeing holidays, which come with minutely detailed trip dossiers and work with a network of small, locally owned hotels and guesthouses. Many of its holidays are also designed with rail travel from London. Try this: Journey by Rail Along the Camino de Santiago in Spain. Perfect for those who don't have the fitness or 30 days spare to do this section of the journey on foot, it includes stays in five cities en route including Burgos, where you'll find El Cid's tomb, and Monforte de Lemos, built around a fortress, which now houses a stunning parador where Inntravel customers stay. Nine nights' B&B and rail travel start from £1,105pp, based on two sharing. Jules Verne runs escorted tours and cruises worldwide, from Croatia to Cuba, and is great for solo travellers who aren't necessarily looking for trips especially for singles, but do want holidays that don't involve paying a swingeing supplement if they don't want to share a room. The group size on each tour is typically about 15 and nearly 40 per cent are travelling solo. More than half of its escorted tours have departures where no single supplement applies. Try this: The Golden Road to Samarkand escorted tour of Uzbekistan has no single supplements on selected dates as well as solo departures. Eleven nights' half board and flights starts at £2,495pp. Owned and managed by the same family for more than 50 years, this is your go-to for lesser-known/undiscovered Greece and its islands (Cyprus, Portugal and the Azores, Scandinavia and Latin America are also in its portfolio). Forget glitzy and soulless all-inclusives, it specialises in value-for-money small hotels and resorts as well as villas with pools and its holidays are brilliant for getting under the skin of a destination. Try this: The two-bedroom Anthilia Cottages in Sivota on Greece's Epirus coast are a ten-minute walk from the village and beaches and seven nights' self-catering costs from £709pp, including flights and transfers. A trip to Japan is top of many people's wishlist but to make the most of it you need a specialist tour operator with impeccable attention to detail. InsideJapan has this in spades, offering group tours and self-guided trips that come with an indispensable, personalised 'bible' of tips and advice. All of its team have have had years of experience living, working and travelling in Japan, and know all the best spots, whether you want to see cherry blossom or hunt down the best manga stores in Tokyo. Try this: The 14-night Gastronomic Adventure is a whistle-stop tour of all the best food and culture hotspots across Japan and starts at £3,060pp, based on two travelling and excluding flights. Trailfinders has specialised in round-the-world tickets and multi-city flights for more than 50 years and now provides everything from tropical fly-and-flops to city breaks and escorted tours; while it has an online presence, you have to ring to book and will always get a bespoke deal. It really came into its own during the pandemic because of its finance model: it ring-fences customers' money in a separate account, so could refund quickly. Try this: The Worldwide Explorer around-the-world package includes flights and five nights' accommodation (room only) on a route from London that includes Singapore, Sydney and San Francisco and starts at £1,379pp, based on two travelling. If you're keen to go green, Pura Aventura, a Brighton-based tour operator, is certified B Corp and tailor-makes holidays away from the crowds to Latin America, Spain and Portugal. It donates one per cent of its revenue to fund a rural reforestation development project in Nicaragua and carbon balances every holiday by 160 per cent (a mile for every kilometre travelled) so that customers can travel 'positive'. Try this: Classic Costa Rica Away From the Crowds swaps the tourist trail for lesser-known routes in Costa Rica and starts at £4,900pp, based on two sharing, including 17 nights' B&B, some meals, transfers and activities. If insider access is your thing, A&K, which specialises in top-notch hyper-bespoke holidays, operates on the 'it's not what you know but who you know' principle and has a bulging little black book. In business for more than 60 years, it's particularly strong on Africa, whether you want a super luxe small-boat Nile cruise or a private safari — but with 55 offices in 30 countries, its reach is worldwide. Try this: A&K's Cultural Treasures: Around the World by Private Jet departs on May 6 and includes everywhere from the Taj Mahal and Abu Dhabi's modern wonders to a Sicilian wedding party and the Bhutan's tshechu festival. It costs £120,800pp. A key marker of Kuoni's reliability is that honeymoons and special occasions make up a quarter of its business; it's also strong on family holidays. All of its trips are tailor-made and it was one of the best travel companies for refunds during the pandemic. It sells holidays worldwide, including a strong European programme ranging from Malta to Montenegro, and while it's premium, it's not all top end — there's now a broader range of resorts in the Maldives, for example. It's hot on sustainability, fair employment rights and animal welfare (elephant rides have been removed entirely from its tours), and a big plus for those who'd rather chat in depth about their trip face-to-face is that it has 30 stores across the UK. Try this: Kandolhu is a tiny idyll in the Maldives that's exclusive to Kuoni. Seven nights' all-inclusive, plus flights and transfers, starts at £3,899pp. An expert in highly personalised, tailor-made private tours, Audley offers trips to more than 80 destinations. Its USP is a team of specialists who've all travelled extensively in their regions, returning each year, so they can curate trips that are out of the ordinary. You can expect the best local guides and stays in interesting hotels, homestays and lodges. Try this: An eight-night Highlights of Canada's west self-drive trip, with bear, moose and elk spotting in Banff and Jasper National Parks, starts at £2,645pp, including flights, stays in hotels and B&Bs, and car hire. • Best tours for families• Best group tours for solo travellers• Best tours for couples Additional reporting by Hannah Summers and Imogen Lepere
New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
What Exactly Is a Jet2 Holiday and Why Are People Talking About It?
As water gushed into the New York City subway system during the flash floods that occurred during torrential rains this week, videos on social media showed dramatic scenes of water pouring across subway floors and passengers standing on the orange seats. One lighthearted video captured water bubbling up outside the train's windows as a woman rested her bare feet in the floodwater. The video was set to an unexpectedly upbeat song, 'Hold My Hand,' by Jess Glynne, while a British woman enthusiastically announced, 'Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday.' What? The popular TikTok 'sound' has gone viral in recent weeks, with users adding the music and narration from a January 2024 airline ad campaign to videos, including dicey vacation moments. The original campaign for Jet2holidays, Britain's largest tour operator, showcased a deal offering 50 pounds (about $67) off holiday packages that included up to 22 kilograms (or 48.5 pounds) of luggage. The 30-second ad has been viewed more than two million times on YouTube. So how did the tagline from a random ad from over a year ago become this summer's ubiquitous travel meme? The TikTok 'for you' page prioritizes content that is doing well, regardless of the time it was first uploaded, allowing users to rediscover older material and create new content incorporating it, leading to a potential snowball effect. Part of the appeal of the trend, said Jenna Jacobson, an assistant professor at Toronto Metropolitan University who specializes in social media, is its paradoxical nature — pairing a fun, lively audio with chaotic events. 'You don't need to learn a fancy dance or anything that's complicated. You can put it with a really boring video that everyone's experiencing,' she said. 'And it builds into this remix culture.' And much like the unofficial, crowdsourced competition for 'song of the summer,' awarded to whatever catchy pop song becomes the most inescapable, a social media trend like the Jet2holidays ad remixes can spread quickly at a time when many people are sharing videos of summer escapades. Jet2holidays is not the only beneficiary of the ad's sudden virality. Zoë Lister, the actress who narrated it, recently created a TikTok video introducing herself as the voice of summer fun, and saying that she has received messages from people in Brazil, Canada, Algeria and the Philippines, to name a few. She even joked that she could not believe people in the United States were interested in the trend seeing as 'they don't even have holidays, they have vacations.' Follow New York Times Travel on Instagram and sign up for our Travel Dispatch newsletter to get expert tips on traveling smarter and inspiration for your next vacation. Dreaming up a future getaway or just armchair traveling? Check out our 52 Places to Go in 2025.
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Australian shopper can't get over 'unreal' UK supermarkets with 'unseen' items
Australian shopper loves 'unreal' UK supermarkets with 'amazing' lunches Brits have been left astounded after a woman who moved from Australia to the UK revealed some of the differences she's noticed. In a video that's gone viral, she highlighted several changes that surprised her, from supermarkets to pop stars, houses, and the weather. Posting on TikTok as @ Ella Smith told her followers: "These are some random things I found to be different as an Australian who's just moved to the UK." She said, "So the first one is that you can buy alcohol at like any of the main food supermarkets. "You just take it to the checkout, and someone comes and presses the button or checks your ID." Ella continued: "Next thing is meal deals. We don't have anything like this in Australia. I really think it's amazing." Ella was so impressed she said she'd happily eat a supermarket lunch every day of the week. "I love Tesco so much, I would eat there for every lunch," she claimed. In fact, Ella thinks UK supermarkets are "unreal." Later in her video, she explained: "The supermarkets here are literally amazing. I feel like every time I go to the big Tesco or big Sainsbury's, it's like a cultural experience for me. "Like we have two main supermarkets in Australia, and they basically sell like 95% the same products. So it's not that exciting. When I come here, there's literally like so many things I've never seen before, and you can buy literally everything in some of those stores. It's unreal." It's not just the supermarkets that surprised the social media user. "The next one is really random, but the lines in the sky after a plane has gone by, like big white lines," Ella added. She also listed "the Jet2holidays ad." Ella said: "I've heard this song literally everywhere, and apparently this chick is now doing like festival appearances or something, which I think is crazy," perhaps not realising that singer-songwriter Jess Glynne was famous long before her song 'Hold My Hand' featured in the holiday ads. "Sunbeds is another random thing that I didn't think really existed anymore," shared Ella, explaining that commercial sunbeds are banned in Australia. Predictably, her video also included the weather. "I feel like I have to mention the weather. Obviously, everyone warns you moving to the UK that the weather is gonna be s**t all the time, like today it's raining. But it's been so hot here, and I feel like the heat here when it's really hot is literally like... it feels different to the heat in Australia when it's really hot." Finally, Ella turned her attention to the UK's houses. "The last thing I can think of right now is conservatories, like the room," she revealed. "We don't have any equivalent to this in Australia, I don't think. Or at least, I've never heard of it."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Jet2holidays and Jet2.com ranked in UK Customer Satisfaction Index
A holiday company has been recognised in a customer satisfaction index. Jet2holidays and were ranked 12th, and joint 19th, respectively for customer service in the July 2025 UK Customer Satisfaction Index. The index, published by The Institute of Customer Service, saw Jet2holidays appear as the only tour operator in the top 20 - with the company achieving a customer satisfaction score of 84.3. This placed the company above the tourism sector average of 80.5. customer satisfaction score, meanwhile, was 83.1. This made it the highest-ranked airline in the study, and the only airline to feature in the top 50. It was also the only company from the transport sector to make the top 50, and it outperformed the national transport sector average of 73.9. The UK Customer Satisfaction Index is published twice a year and is based on around 60,000 experiences that 15,000 customers have had with more than 250 organisations across 13 sectors. It uses more than 25 different metrics to calculate customer satisfaction, which is grouped into five dimensions (one of which is 'Emotional Connection'). Steve Heapy, CEO of and Jet2holidays, said: "The UK Customer Satisfaction Index provides a definitive insight into how customers feel about different companies and how those companies treat their customers, so we are delighted to be recognised once again as the best airline and tour operator for customer satisfaction. "Our teams put an enormous amount of investment and hard work into providing the best customer service in the industry, and that is reflected not only in this latest study, but also in the number of people who book with us time and time again. "From a happy greeting at check-in through to our customer-friendly policy of providing 10kg of free hand luggage in addition to a free under-seat bag, we are obsessed with looking after our customers and making them feel like a VIP." Jo Causon, CEO of The Institute of Customer Service, said: "Within a volatile operating environment, and Jet2holidays have shown remarkable resilience and consistency when it comes to their reputation with customers, topping their respective sectors in the UK Customer Satisfaction Index. "This shows the value of long-term investment in service and the customer experience, which is essential to driving up satisfaction, bringing with it greater levels of trust, repeat business, and financial returns." For further information on the study, visit
Forbes
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Jet2holidays TikTok Trend, Explained
People are sharing their vacation bloopers on TikTok, set to a UK vacation company's catchy ad. getty If you're a frequent TikTok scroller, chances are the Jet2holidays jingle is already stuck in your head—and Jess Glynne's decade-old Hold My Hand is playing on repeat. But if TikTok isn't your thing, or the viral video hasn't hit your feed yet, you might be wondering: why is Jet2, a United Kingdom-based, low-cost airline and vacation package company suddenly trending? According to a Google trend report today, search interest in Jet2holidays is at an all-time high and the search query for 'what is a jet 2 holiday' has nearly quadrupled in the past week. The surging search interest syncs up with a revived viral TikTok trend: Nearly 16,000 posts (and counting) have been made to the 12-second clip with the Jet2Holiday advertisement sound used in the background, starting off with Glynne crooning 'Darling hold my hand.' The majority of clips feature vacation bloopers that have no connection with Jet2holidays: It's like America's Funniest Home Videos meets the Instagram-era travel aesthetic during the peak summer travel season. Think: Getting tossed while whitewater rafting and bobbing in the river, being catapulted into the air while inner tubing on a lake, or trying to get off a boat, missing the dock and taking an unexpected plunge in the water. Some of the clips reveal disappointing vacation moments, like a hotel room tour when the creator @bben9450 pulls back a window covering to reveal a tiny window. Here's a primer on the Jet2holidays TikTok trend. What is a Jet 2 Holiday? Those in the United States probably had never heard fo Jet2holidays until the sound became a TikTok sensation. But for those in the United Kingdom, the advert for the vacation company is an unrelenting ear worm, with a voiceover exclaiming: 'Nothing beats a Jet2holiday. And right now you can save £50 off per person.' That's £200 off for a family of four, the ad calculates for its listeners. 'This advert is now embedded in the British public's minds after ten years of non-stop onslaught, even being played in nightclubs up and down the country,' writes Hannah Cowton-Barnes, entertainment editor for Tech Advisor. While those in the UK have been inundated with the company's ads, here's a primer for the uninitiated: Jet2holidays offers vacation packages, including all-inclusives, in hotspots throughout Europe, ranging from the Amalfi Coast to Greek islands and more. What's the Jet2holidays TikTok Trend? Your company's jingle going viral on TikTok could be a good thing—it's got people searching for Jet2holidays, afterall. But it's also become an anthem for people making light of their hilarious vacation mishaps that don't have anything to do with the company. Some of the top trending videos include a whitewater rafting trip that turns into bumper tubes, flipping rafters in the water, which has amassed 3.7 million likes and a cruise ship traveler who gets stuck in a waterslide when she loses momentum, the caption saying it prompted an emergency evacuation. While the sound is currently trending, it's not the first time that the company's jingle has been the background sound for vacation-gone-wrong bloopers. Know Your Meme points out the Jet2holidays jingle was used in November 2024, with a TikTok video of out-of-control camels in a desert.
